TiVo

TiVo’s overriding philosophy is that all people, no matter how busy, deserve the opportunity to enjoy the home entertainment of their choosing, at their convenience.*

In 1997, TiVo was founded by two Silicon Valley engineers, Mike Ramsay and Jim Barton. Now a public company, TiVo has created a seismic shift in the experience of television viewers, allowing them to record, pause, replay, and create their own playlists of their favorite shows. The technology has caused ripples in the advertising world, since it is easy for the user to fast forward through advertising right to the programmed content.

Goals

Name a company that aspired to change the rules of home entertainment.

Design an identity that appeals to users in the digital living room.

Create an icon as recognizable as Disney’s mouse ears.

Focus on the user’s desire for fun, convenience, and control.

Create a name that could have brand extensions.

*Mike Ramsay CEO and Co-Founder TiVo

The engineering of great products is highly creative. The team was familiar with the feelings of uncertainty that exist before an answer comes and they were comfortable that we would get it right. It’s one of the benefits of an “A” level team. Michael Cronan

Principal Cronan

TiVo meet iPod. It sounds like a marriage made in techie heaven.

money.cnn.com

Process and strategy: In 1997, Cronan partners Michael Cronan and Karin Hibma were retained to create a new name and identity for a confidential Silicon Valley project with the code name Teleworld. Michael Cronan, principal, began by immersion into the new product: understanding its genesis, using it, watching others use it, and framing its cultural context. “Once I began to understand that it could essentially change behavior, I began to ask ‘what would the next TV be like?’,” said Cronan. Although his team generated over 1,600 names, once Cronan started to envision the next generation of television, he instinctively knew that the name needed to include the T and V. He looked at the visual forms of the letters, integrated an i and o, symbolic of the in and out engineering acronym, and created the fabricated name, TiVo. Creative solution: Designing the identity was simultaneous with creating brand extensions and a new TiVo culture. Cronan aspired to design an icon “as recognizable as the mouse ears are to Disney.” His early sketches were stick figure drawings with television bodies and rabbit ears. An early morning bumper sticker sighting of a Darwinian fish with human legs made Cronan realize the icon needed legs. “Everyone started nodding, and we started thinking about the TiVo identity as a mascot,” said Cronan. Explorations into the look and feel of TiVo generated color palettes and other graphic elements. Once there was agreement about the name and the character, an animation team began the work of breathing life into the mascot.

Results: TiVo has become the most popular DVR in the U.S., and cites that its technology fueled “one of the most rapid and enthusiastic adoption rates in the history of consumer electronics.” Consumer research has revealed that subscribers fall in love with TiVo, and would sooner disconnect their cell phone than unplug their TiVo. TiVo has recently formed an alliance with Apple and Sony to download television content to mobile devices. Although the business category is being saturated by bigger players, TiVo will always have the first mover advantage.

The first time I used TiVo in my own home, I clicked the button to pause live TV when Karin walked in with the kids. I began to feel, like most TiVo users do, that I wish I could use TiVo’s feature set in life outside the box. Michael Cronan

Principal Cronan